In His First Year as Governor, Josh Shapiro Forged Alliances With the Natural Gas Industry, Angering Environmentalists Who Once Supported Him

By Kiley Bense

In June 2020, then Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro appeared at a press conference in Harrisburg to announce the findings of a two-year grand jury investigation into the state’s fracking industry. The 235-page report concluded that Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health had failed to protect residents from the worst effects of unconventional drilling.